Affordability

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
IrvineRenter,





Thanks for the pointer to the Piggington's blog BTW. Good reading.





It seems that we can just watch what happens to SD this summer as a preview to OC next year.
 
"You can pay your property tax relying on your IRS check from previous year."





I remember receiving my first property tax bill. Broke out into a cold sweat! Those things are brutal!
 
With HOA/Mello/taxes, renting in general almost seems like a no-brainer, especially for people living by themselves.





$1000/month for family of 5, semi-reasonable


$1000/month for a household of one? Might as well just go to Vegas every weekend
 
fk123 -





I have heard stories of single buying places like Vientos, and then rent out the other room/studio. I guess that's probably how they can cover $1000 Mello Roos and HOA???
 
If you looking for low HOA, I recall the single family homes in West Irvine tract (off Jamboree) had monthly HOA of $45 few years back. But they don't have a swimming pool (if you care). In Irvine most detached homes only have 1 HOA (master), while attached condos/townhomes have 2 HOA's. Thee are exceptions, of course.





In California, we have prop 13, so your basic property tax rate is 1% of purchase price + limited annual adjustments. Most newish properties in Irvine have various assessments, bonds, and mello-roos. Most of the assessments are small-ish, the 2 biggest ones are "1915 AD BOND MB" and Mello-Roose. Mello-Roos vary by district. At border area with Tustin (Sheridan complex) it's Mello-Roos R4, at Oak Creek near UCI it's Mello Roos R2.





On the property tax bill, they usually list a phone # next to these items, so you can call and ask for info. I called about "1915 AD BOND MD" which is on property tax bill at both Oak Creek and Sheridan (prolly includes most of Irvine?) and they told me this bond expires in 2022 AD. The condo in Sheridan was built in 1999 and the annual 1915 AD BOND MD assessment is ~$500/y. The condo at Oak Creek was built in 2001 and the 1915 AD BOND MD is ~$900/year. Weird thing is the Sheridan place unit cost more than the Oak Creek/Oak Park one.





I couldn't get a live person on the phone to answer questions about Mello Roos R2. The person who answered the phone for Mello Roos R4 said that one expires in 2058. I'm a little iffy on that number because I recall there's supposed to be a reduction in 2010 (?). The HOA for both Sheridan and Oak Park are about $180/mo, both have dual associations.





There's a lot of choices in Irvine, you don't HAVE to buy a home with >$300/month HOA. Unless if you absolutely love the house and it has some awesome feng shui that makes you feel good every morning, I'd say give it a pass and look for something cheaper.
 
The trend in foreclosures continues (actually it is getting worse):


<img src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_OjftCEBUcYQ/RdPMO3Vdd1I/AAAAAAAAAOU/_U-VTDqBB0I/s400/sac.PNG" alt="Sacramento foreclosures" />


<a href="http://sacrealstats.blogspot.com/2007/02/dataquick-graphs.html">Northern California is falling apart</a>
 
Has anyone else seen this video? Every time I watch it I laugh:





<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt0c6_snldontbuystuff">Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford</a>
 
<p>Hey guys, long time lurker but I just finally signed up for an account. Have learned a lot lately and many thanks to everyone for their input. I just wanted to comment on how ridiculous it is now to purchase a home. I have been in the market in Irvine, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach for the last 6-8 months. I have to say that I am thinking of renting a house now instead. I make pretty good money, around $100K a year but I do help out my parents and pay their mortgage on their house purchased in 1988 in Fountain Valley. Currently about $1450 a month plus taxes and utilities and insurance and stuff, so basically I move about $2500 a month over to cover their bills. Now my take home pay after taxes is about $7500 and minus the $2500 I move to their account, even with $5000 a month net, it seems that I cannot afford anything with at least 2bd 2bath in these 3 places. If I put 20% down on any home up to $600K and loan around 480K, my monthlys will be roughly $2900 for mortgage, $300-400 for HOA, and $550 for property tax at 1.1% or $900 tax at 1.8% w/mellorous and tack on about $600 for utilities and insurance. So to afford a Townhome/Condo in Irvine/Newport/HB I would need to have between $4350-$4800 net which leaves me roughly $200-$650 every month to cover everything else. It seems that there is no way I am going to ever own a home around here. I have felt very discouraged and disappointed for the last few months. </p>

<p>The last offer I made on a place that was listed for 140 days which initially was listed at $699k then dropped to $625K was $567K and got a counter at 608K. I really don't know if it's worth the time and effort anymore. I hear stories of people getting 2003 prices or 20% off asking price, but it seems like I have to make finding a house a full time job in order to do that. I work 7 days a week (around 80hours a wk) and just burned out. </p>

<p>Anyways, just wanted to share my story, and I'm sure there are others like me out there who are getting very discouraged. I've been checking Craigslist and have found some decent homes in FV/HB/Irvine 4bd 2-3baths for around 2200-2500 a month. I think I'm going to go for something like that instead now. Anyone know of any other sites out there which is good for finding homes for rent? I'm looking for 2bd to 4bd between 1500-2500 a month. Many thanks again for all your help and inputs. </p>
 
TheSteelCurtain,





If I were you, I'd wait for couple more years, renting & saving up for a larger downpayment while prices drop.





It's funny, I was just looking at rentals earlier on realtor.com and I saw one in FV that I thought was a good deal:





http://www.homeseekers.com/Scripts/detail.asp?_org_id=oc&_cstm=0&mls_property_id=S472160&_lid=0&_ver=5





I don't know of any other sites to look for rentals besides the usual craigslist, realtor.com, homeseekers.com, ocrealestatefinder.com





Just be careful and don't rent a property that gets put up for rent because the owner couldn't sell.


I ran into a couple of those while looking for a rental last year and some were foreclosed afterwards.
 
Well, we are in escrow now on a home in Irvine: put 37% down and the mortgage is 2.6 times our annual income with a 30 year fixed. Even though this is a conservative debt to income ratio, I wouldn't recommend going higher. We could have put a lot more down, but with rates being so low (at least they were 2 weeks ago when we locked) I'd rather hold on to a nice chunk of cash for various reasons.





Yeah I'm a housing bear, but we found the right house that we could live in for 15+ years and it was affordable so we took the plunge. It is in the neighborhood I grew up in 20 years ago. Can't wait to move in.
 
irvine_native,





Congratulations on your new purchase. With the financing you utilized and the timeframe you expect to own, things will work out for you no matter what the market does in the next several years.





Enjoy your new home.
 
Congrats on the purchase!





If you don't mind, would you consider posting the numbers for us? If you're not comfortable with revealing too much, feel free to "round up" the numbers a bit.
 
irvine_native - Congratulations! I hope this home and neighborhood work out fabulously for both you and your family.
 
Gentlemen,


I was totally turned off by the Mello Roos when I visited PSpring months ago. I was told it'd be 49 years.


Forget it, I don't even expect to live that long.
 
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